Singapore deports striking Chinese bus drivers

Activists in Singapore have raised concerns over the deportation of 29 mainland Chinese bus drivers involved in the city-state's first industrial strike in 26 years.

The drivers, who worked for state-linked transport operator SMRT, last week staged two days of strikes over a salary dispute and working conditions.

The drivers had their work permits revoked for failing to give the 14 days notice required for industrial action by workers in 'essential services'.

Ravi Philemon, a community worker and social activist in Singapore, has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia being the country's first strike in more than 20 years, the breach was probably not intentional.

"I think probably the drivers were not aware of the law - I think many Singaporeans were not aware of this law where you have to give 14 days notice, because we haven't had a strike in the longest time - since the mid-80s," he said.

"The other reason could be because they thought that they'd exhausted all avenues for coming to a negotiated settlement."

A total of 171 drivers launched the strike November 26 by refusing to report for work and staying in their dormitories, with the number falling to 88 on the second day.

At least four other drivers have been charged over their involvement in the work stoppage which the government rules was illegal.

Mr Philemon says the drivers are in a difficult situation.

"Most Singaporeans agree that striking is not good, but we also have to bear in mind the reasons why these drivers went on strike," he said.

"I think the reasons are very standard - there is a way to go about labour agreements in Singapore by coming up with a private contract.

"In this case, that's how SMRT justified it - that they had a contract separate from the employment agreement with the unions...and I think that that disadvantages the workers a little bit."

SMRT has promised to look into the strikers' demands, fumigate their bedbug-infested dormitory rooms, find alternative housing in 2013 and open permanent communication lines with its Chinese workers.

Mr Philemon says the issue has raised concerns about the division between the conditions for Singaporean workers and those for foreign labour.

"I think they must be very concerned - although this is billed as the first official strike in 26 years, there was a similar strike by foreign workers from Bangladesh sometime in May this year," he said.

"The mainstream media in Singapore reported [it] as a dispute or a demonstration, but not as a strike - I think the mainstream media in Singapore is very reluctant to describe anything as a strike.

"The mainstream media in Singapore is very reluctant to describe anything as a strike - even in this latest saga they were initially reporting it as a protest or a wage dispute - not as a strike."

It's a fundamental human yearning to be a part of something bigger than one's self, and maybe that's what drove my mate Ash to die, far from home, in a bloody foreign war against Islamic State, writes C August Elliott.